The present application claims priority under 35 U.S.C. xc2xa7119 to Japanese Application No. 2000-037391 filed on Feb. 16, 2000, which is hereby incorporated by reference in its entirely for all purposes.
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a semiconductor device which includes laser-blown links.
2. Description of the Related Art
Fusible conductive links are commonly used in solid state device production, including, for example, integrated circuit (IC) production. One type of fusible link is normally conductive, and is rendered non-conductive by one or more pulses of laser energy or electric current directed to the link. The energy melts the conductive link material, thereby removing it from the conductive path. The conductive material may be a metal, for example aluminum, or alternately may be doped polysilicon or a metal silicide. The links are typically formed on a top dielectric layer in a step of forming the top conductive layer using a RIE (reactive ion etching) process. Etching gasses in the RIE process are easy to spread toward a densely patterned region in which various conductive patterns are formed. The fusible links are normally formed in a fuse region away from the densely patterned region.
Therefore, as the etching gasses are mainly used for forming the various conductive patterns in the densely patterned region, the gasses for forming the fusible links are reduced. That is, a part of the gasses are intercepted by forming the many conductive patterns in the densely patterned region. Thereby, a width of the fusible links becomes wider, as comparing with a predetermined size.
In such case, it is difficult to melt the fusible links by a predetermined laser energy. That is, a time for melting the links becomes longer than a predetermined melting time. Consequently, a cost and a processing time for forming the semiconductor device are increased.
An object of the present invention is to provide a semiconductor device including laser-blown links which allow to form the links precisely.
To achieve the object, in a semiconductor device having fusible conductive links, wherein a dummy pattern is formed in the vicinity of the fusible conductive link.
According to the present invention, as a density of a fuse region becomes high, comparing with the conventional art, a semiconductor device can be realized which includes fusible conductive links which are precisely formed.